Cross My Heart

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The harsh winter didn’t stop vibrant New York City from going about its business. The roads snaked through the hills and ran toward the east end of the city. It didn’t take long to travel from the Taylors’ main estate to Madeline’s residence.

Unlike her sister Maggie, Madeline didn’t live with her parents. From what Ciaran could gather, Maggie wasn’t keen about the family business, leaving Madeline to handle all the business affairs. Their mother had passed a couple years ago, and the father looked like he was planning to retire. That left Madeline Taylor in charge of the entire family’s business.

But that was Madeline Taylor’s life he was thinking about. He was here to take his wife, Madeline Leblanc, home. Soon, he would tell her just that.

He didn’t know what the consequences to her life here would be after he brought her back to Eudaiz, where she belonged. But he couldn’t afford to spend time thinking about possible scenarios before he saw for himself what Madeline Taylor was like.

What happened with the two versions of Madeline made logical sense to him. In this reality, Madeline Taylor had been in an accident, and Ciaran supposed she wasn’t meant to regain consciousness. She had come out of her coma only because his Madeline had been flung out of her orbit in his Eudaizian reality.

So he was here to inform his wife about the accident, explain the process of time and dimension travel to her, and then convince her to go home with him. They had been to hell and back together. In a way, this was simply another mission.

Ciaran parked his car and pulled out the file Brandon had given him about the household and the business. It didn’t take a lot of investigative work to see that the Taylor’s business was being manipulated by the in-laws. Brandon seemed to be quite sharp, and Ciaran was surprised he couldn't see this.

Systematically, Ciaran ran through the list of Madeline Taylor’s staff. Gardener, cook, housekeeper, daily maid. He was astonished. This Madeline probably wouldn’t know how to boil an egg if her life depended on it.

When they'd lived on Earth, the Leblancs had enough money to buy half of England. In Eudaiz, a universe of a multibillion citizens, he was king, and she was his first councillor. Eudaiz’s wealth of resources made all the other universes want to either invade or form an alliance with it. Anyone who knew about Eudaiz wanted to live there. Madeline had the best resources and assistance at her disposal.

Yet, she took care of the children herself. She ran the household errands herself. She raised the children and tried to give them an Earthly education. She was rushing around to prepare for Christmas—and had been thrown into the storm.

Ciaran thought he had given his family the best care. He thought he was a good husband. But now he wasn’t sure.

Was his love enough?

His Madeline would say that it was all that mattered.

But was it really?

The gates to Madeline Taylor’s estate stood open, with room enough for two cars to easily pass through. Ciaran drove along the white gravel driveway. There was a burst of birdsong, then silence. He drove nearly a quarter of a mile before pulling up in front of the house.

Ciaran walked up the steps to the front door and knocked.

The door opened, and he looked down at a petite, middle-aged woman with a harsh face.

“May I help you?”

“I’m Ciaran Leblanc. Miss Taylor’s expecting me.”

The woman looked him up and down, then stepped aside to allow him to enter.

As the door closed behind him, Ciaran glanced around the foyer. The blond oak was tasteful and elegant. There was minimal artwork on the walls, and no wallpaper. That was a surprise, given the business and the wealth of the family.

Ciaran started to turn back to the housekeeper when a clatter at the top of the steps caught his attention. Madeline came barreling down the staircase in a flurry of long, swirling hair and flying skirt: a storm of energy. Realizing Ciaran was in her way, she tried to spin away from him, but she overbalanced. Ciaran reached for her arm to steady her. This was exactly how they had met in England.

Breathless, she raised her eyes from the front of his shirt to stare at him.

In front of him was Madeline.

But this was not necessarily his Madeline.

The physical appearance was identical. But the aura around her, the energy, and the way she looked at him were totally different. The light perfume she was wearing was definitely not Madeline’s preferred scent. The needle heels and flowing skirt were not Madeline’s style.

Madeline Leblanc dressed for him. For them. The scent she wore blended with her emotions. The clothes she selected suggested the way she wanted them to be intimate for the night. It didn’t matter how long they had been together—every time they were together was a new experience.

Madeline Taylor dressed for someone else.

This woman wasn’t his wife.

He hastily dropped his hand.

“This is Mr. Leblanc,” the housekeeper announced.

“Oh, yes. Daddy said you were coming. You’re evaluating our assets and books for our upcoming business credit renewal.”

“Yes, Ms. Taylor.”

“Call me Madeline, please. And may I call you Ciaran?”

“Yes, of course.”

She stepped backward toward the door. “Look, I’m sorry to rush off the minute you get here, but I had to be at a meeting ten minutes ago.” Tilting her wrist, she grimaced at her watch.

“Don’t worry about it. Just show me where the documentation and paperwork is, and I’ll work my way through it. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Yes, about the paperwork.” She gestured upstairs. “It’s in my office. It’s usually quite tidy. But I was off duty for a bit, and the papers need some reorganization. If you try to go through the paperwork now, I doubt you’ll make much progress. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable and take a tour around the house? I’ll work through this with you when I return.”

“I heard about the accident. I'm sorry to hear about that but am glad to see that you’re now recovered. I can wait, Madeline. But I'm happy to give it a head start if you’re comfortable with me doing so.”

She bit her bottom lip while she thought it over, and then she nodded. “All right. It’s all upstairs. But you've been warned—it’s a bit of a mess at the moment.”

“At least he can help by carrying those gigantic piles of paper around, because that won’t do your shoulder any good,” the housekeeper suddenly interjected.

“Susan, I can manage.”

“Maybe, but your shoulder is complaining, and I’ll keep nagging until you get the doctor to look at it.”

Madeline smiled at Ciaran and tugged the shoulder of her cashmere sweater up. “She’s exaggerating. It’s kind of like a bee sting. I put some lotion on it. It'll go away in no time.”

“How long have you had it?” Ciaran frowned.

“She came home from the hospital like that. It was fine until it swelled up and turned shades of red and purple a couple of days ago.”

“Susan!”

“It sounds like an infection. I can take a look if you want?”

Madeline chuckled. “I thought you were a banker.”

“I used to own a pharmaceutical company. I’ve had medical training.”

“But I’m really late!” She pointed at the door, wincing when she raised her left arm.

“An untreated infection might cost you your beautiful arm, Madeline. No business is going to make up for that,” he said.

“My arm, my call,” she said and turned to leave.

“Please, Madeline!” Susan's voice was hard. “Just this once, for this old woman!”

Madeline sighed. “Oh, all right.”

She turned so that the back of her left shoulder faced Ciaran and pulled down her sweater.

On her left shoulder was a puncture wound with four small legs pointing out from the center—the distinctive shape of the tracking device he had shot at Madeline. The tracker itself was not intrusive, but because he had triggered the strongest search signals when he was looking for her, it must have jolted her body's defense mechanism. In other words, her body had discovered the foreign object and was now rejecting it.

Madeline pulled her cashmere sweater back up and turned around. “Ciaran, whatever infection I might have can't possibly be as bad as the way you look right now.”

He smiled at her. “I’m sorry. It’s actually not bad at all. Nothing a painkiller won't help.”

“See? Can I go now, ma’am?” Madeline smiled at Susan. “Thanks for your help, Ciaran.”

“No worries. I’ll see you when you get back.”

She waved goodbye and rushed out.

“I can find my way around.” Ciaran headed upstairs before the housekeeper could object. All his thoughts about pulling Madeline into his arms and taking her back to Eudaiz with him before supper had evaporated.

He was confused.

If the mind of his wife somehow resided in Madeline Taylor’s body, why didn’t she recognize him?

If the tracker was faulty, it could possibly have led him to the wrong person because of her identical resemblance to his wife.

But if that was the case, then was he looking in the wrong place? Was his Madeline by herself somewhere in the oblivion?

If his wife’s mind existed in the body of Madeline Taylor, and she was trapped in this reality and could never return to Eudaiz, wouldn’t he ruin both of her worlds by letting her know?

And what about their children?

What about the life they had shared together? The reality they had shed blood, sweat, and tears to build?

What about all the sacrifices they and others had made to build Eudaiz?

Hundreds of questions rolled through his mind like a computer screen with flashing signals and symbols that he didn’t know how to decode.

He picked up a framed picture from a table. In the picture, Madeline Taylor smiled in the arms of a man Ciaran guessed was Ethan.